Latch



B. R. THIELE LATCH voriginal Filed March 27, 1944 42 2.a INVENTOR.

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Patented Nov. 4, 1947 ZABlZ 2,430,312 LATCH Berthold R. Thiele, Rip

Wagner Manufacturing Wis., a corporation o Original application M 528,283. Divided and Wis., assigner to E. R. Company, Milwaukee,

f Wisconsin 1945, Serial No. 591,205

4 Claims. (Cl. 292-337) This invention relates to improvements in latches for boxes or cases and the like.

One object of the invention is to provide a latch structure in which the several parts are held in operative position and relationship and mutually support each other by assembly of the parts only.

Another object of the invention is to provide a latch, hereinafter particularly described, which' is extremely simple and compact in construction, reliable and effective in operation, attractive in appearance, susceptible of economical manufacture, and which may be readily applied to a box or case and the like.

4Another object of the invention is to provide a latch in which the same means are employed for holding the latch bolt both engaged with and disengaged from the keeper and which provides for a positive positioning of the bolt in each of its two above positions.

Objects and advantages other than those above set forth Will be apparent from the following description when read in connection With the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the latch of the present invention mounted on a fragment of a box or case;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the latch with portions of the keeper and the bolt housing covers broken away to show the relationships of the several latch parts; and

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the plane of the line III- III of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing by reference numerals, numeral S designates a casing mounted on one portion of the box or case and numeral I generally designates a housing mounted on the other portion of the box or case and enclosing a latch bolt generally designated 8. The several box portions are indicated at I and Il and only fragments thereof are shown.

The casing 6 forms a bolt keeper and comprises la base I2 with a partial peripheral flange I3 and with prongs I struck therefrom for fastening the base to a box portion, the prongs having reverse bent portions IS. The base I2 is enclosed by a cover Il having a partial peripheral flange I8 intertting with the base ange and suitably secured thereto` When the keeper base and cover are assembled, the prong reverse bends I6 extend adjacent the inner surface of the cover I 'I and transmit any pressure on the cover directly through the prongs to the box. The assembled keeper I2, Il may therefore be fastened on the box, as by pressing the prongs l5 into the box or arch 27, 1944, Serial No. this application April 30,

case frame, without danger of deforming the cover during the fastening operation. And the prongs with their reverse bends are preferably so spaced relative to each other as to best fulll both the function of transmitting pressure from the casing cover to the box and of fastening the casing to the box.

The bolt housing I includes a base 22 with a partial peripheral flange '23 and With prongs I5 formed with reverse bends IS and struck from the base. The housing base 22 is formed with a circular opening flangedy to form a pivot post 26 extending from the base and with a lug 2l struck from the base adjacent the peripheral ange thereof to provide an anchor for a spring 28. The bolt housing is completed by the cover 29 having a partial peripheral flange 30 intertting with and suitably secured to the base flange 23 and having an opening therethrough to accommodate the bolt 8, as will be hereinafter described.

The latch bolt 3 has a substantially cylindrical hub-like portion 33 with a partial peripheral flange 34 extending outwardly therefrom. An extension 35 from the bolt flange is notched to form a hook 38 for engaging the overlapped flanges I3 and I8 of the casing 6 and an extension is made from and preferably integral with the hub 33 to form a handle 35. The bolt fiange 34 is provided with flats 4B and lll which are alternately engaged by the spring 28 in the latched or unlatched position of the bolt. The spring 23 is preferably a leaf spring looped about the anchor lug 2l with one end 42 of the spring bearing on the housing base flange 23 and the other spring end 43 bearing on the bolt ats lil or 4I dependent on the position of the bolt.

When the bolt housing and the bolt are to be assembled, the bolt handle 35 is passed through the opening in the housing cover 29 until the bolt flange 34 lies against the inner surface of the housing cover. The bolt hub 33 then fits into the housing cover opening with only sufficient clearance to be readily rotatable therein. The housing base ange 23 is then intertted with the housing cover flange 33 which positions the pivot post 25 in the bolt hub 33. The pivot post 25 is of such shape and size as to center the bolt hub 33 in the housing cover opening and to hold the bolt in the housing 1 in operative relation to the casing 6 which serves as a keeper.

When the bolt hook 38 engages with the casing flanges I3 and I8, as shown in full lines in Fig. 2, the spring end 43 bears on the bolt at lll and retains the bolt in the latched position. If the bolt is to be unlatched from the casing, the bolt struck from the casing and the housing bases pro-V vide prongs which transmit any pressure on the` covers directly to the box part in which the prongs are embedded, thus preventing' deformation ofthe covers either during the casing and housing,

mounting operations or during use of the latch. It will be understood that the pressure transmit-v ting bends and the fastening portions of the prongs may be made separate if desired and then will each perform a single function only. rlhe latch bolt is located in the proper position in the housing only by the post 26 on which the bolt pivots in the desired relation to-the severalA other portions ofthe housing 1f. Assembly of the bolt and the housing partsalcne places the parts in the desired'- relationship andthe parts mutually support each other'in operative position.

The present application is a division of application Ser. No. 528,283, filed March 27', 1944, issued on July 3, 1945, as Patent No, 2,379,613,

Although but one embodiment of the present inventionhas been illustrated and described, it will be apparent tothose skilled in the art that various changes and modifications maybe made therein without departing froml the spirit ofthe invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a casing including a base and a cover, a prong having one end pointed and formed' from the base within and' at a distance fromy the edges thereof, the prong being bent toibring a portion f thereof into contact with the cover and having the pointed' end thereof extending through and beyond the plane of the base whereby pressure on the cover is-transmitted directly to the prong.

2. In a casing including a base and a cover, a prong formed by a strip cut from the base within and at a, distance from the edges thereof, the prong being pointed at one end and bent to bring a portion thereof into contact with the inside surface of the cover and having, the pointed end thereof extending through the base whereby pressure on the cover is transmitted directly to the prong.

3. In a casing including a base and a cover, a prong formed from a substantially rectangular strip cut from the base on three sides thereof and spaced from and within the edges of the base, the prong being pointed at the free end thereof andi being bent to bring a portion thereof between the uncut side of the prong and the pointed end thereof into contact with the cover whereby pressure on the cover is transmitted directly to a portion of the .prong extending through and beyond the plane of the base.

4. In a casing including a base and a cover, the base and the cover having intertting flanges, a prong extending from the base Within and at a distance` from the flanges, the prong being reversely bent into contact with the cover for directly transmitting pressures therefrom to the prong and extending outside of the base for mounting the casing.

BERTHOLD R. THIELE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record 1n the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,694,795 Recker Dec. 11, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 240,997 Great Britain Oct. 15, 1925 236,386 Great Britain July 9, 1925 267,218 Great Britain Mar. 10, 1927 

